THE HOUSE

The California Drought

By a vote of 387 to 23, the House sent the Senate an emergency bill (HR 355) authorizing $30 million for U.S. Bureau of Reclamation drought relief measures in California and other Western states. Although no opponents spoke against the bill, questions were raised about $12 million it also included for upgrading Shasta Dam that serves California’s Central Valley.

A yes vote was to help Western states, including California, cope with drought.

How They Voted

Rep. Beilenson (D): Yea

Rep. Berman (D): Yea

Rep. Gallegly (R): Yea

Rep. Lewis (R): Yea

Rep. Moorhead (R): Yea

Rep. Thomas (R): Yea

Rep. Waxman (D): Yea

To Fund Committees

By a vote of 363 to 58, the House approved $60.8 million for part of its committee budget in 1991, up 7% from 1990. The measure (HR 92) funds about half the cost of the House’s about 180 committees and subcommittees, with the remainder provided by the legislative branch appropriations bill.

Supporter Bill Barrett (R-Neb.) said the House “cannot jeopardize the quality and professionalism of committee work by shortchanging committee resources.”

Opponent Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) said the measure shows “an already cynical American public that . . . the talk of fiscal responsibility is relegated to campaign brochures.”

A yes vote approved the resolution.

How They Voted

Rep. Beilenson (D): Yea

Rep. Berman (D): Yea

Rep. Gallegly (R): Yea

Rep. Lewis (R): Yea

Rep. Moorhead (R): Nay

Rep. Thomas (R): Yea

Rep. Waxman (D): Yea

S & L Cleanup

By a vote of 225 to 188, the House sent the White House legislation (S 419) providing $78 billion for the second phase of the savings and loan bailout. The bill authorizes the Treasury to borrow $30 billion in “permanent losses” to be used mainly to reimburse lost S & L deposits. It also enables the Resolution Trust Corp. to borrow $48 billion in “working capital” for overseeing seized properties, money the RTC hopes to recover by selling those assets.

Although a credit burden on taxpayers, the new costs have been declared “off budget” by Congress and thus are not counted in the fiscal 1991 deficit. With the new money, the cost of the S & L bailout reaches $80 billion in permanent losses and $108 billion in recoverable working capital, plus borrowing costs over several decades. More than 500 insolvent thrifts have been acquired or targeted by the RTC, with taxpayers expected to pick up the tab for several hundred more before the cleanup is completed.

A yes vote was to fund Round 2 of the S & L bailout.

How They Voted

Rep. Beilenson (D): Yea

Rep. Berman (D): Yea

Rep. Gallegly (R): Yea

Rep. Lewis (R): Yea

Rep. Moorhead (R): Yea

Rep. Thomas (R): Yea

Rep. Waxman (D): Yea

Source: Roll Call Report Syndicate